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Friend,
Imagine being woken up in the middle of the night, lights suddenly flooding your room, and a hurried voice telling you to pack everything you own into one small bag.
That’s what happened to Elena*, a 12-year-old Indigenous girl from Guatemala, as she felt her world turn upside down. At midnight, Elena was woken up by bright lights in her bed in government custody. She was ordered to pack her drawings, her toys, her clothes – everything she owned. Without any more explanation, Elena was told that she was being deported even though she had a pending asylum case.
Across the country, Elena was one of more than 600 children – toddlers, Indigenous youth, children who did not speak English or Spanish – who were being pushed onto deportation flights by government agencies under the cover of night.
Through confusion and tears, Elena looked to adults for answers. Her only dream was to finally reunite with her aunt in the United States. But with K’iche’ as her primary language, she couldn’t understand why this was happening. Terrified of the possibility of being deported to danger, she felt utterly alone.
“Why do they want to send me back? My mom is dead, and my dad abuses me. Why do they want to hurt me?”
Because of your support, Elena was not alone. Advocates at the Young Center were already mobilizing across the country to keep her safe, drawing on more than 20 years of rapid response experience to defend her right to seek asylum, to live without fear, and to be treated with dignity.
By 3 a.m., our partners, along with the Young Center, secured an emergency court order. A federal judge ruled that the deportation flights must stop, even as planes loaded with children sat on tarmacs in Texas. One had already taken off.
Because of our swift action – made possible by your generosity – Elena and hundreds of other children were spared unlawful deportation. Elena is safe for now, but she’s back in that same detention room, anxiously waiting for the day that her life can expand beyond the toys and drawings she packed into her bag.
This fight is not over. And it won't be anytime soon. Our promise: We. Won’t. Quit.
Today, as this fight grows harder, we ask: will you donate this Giving Tuesday and stand with children like Elena?
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Gladis Molina Alt Frances de Pontes Peebles
Young Center Executive Director Young Center Board Chair
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Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights
P.O. Box 2417
Chicago, IL 60690
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